Twitter bans climate change denial ads

On Earth Day, Twitter announced a ban on ads that promote climate change denial. It said misleading advertising that contradicts scientific consensus on the crisis won't be permitted on the platform under its policy on inappropriate content.

"We believe that climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter, and that misrepresentative ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis," leaders from the company's sustainability team wrote in a blog post. "We recognize that misleading information about climate change can undermine efforts to protect the planet."

Twitter says it will assess whether climate change ads break the rules based on reports from authoritative sources, such as the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The company added that, in the months ahead, it will share more details about its "work to add reliable, authoritative context to the climate conversations happening on Twitter."

This move builds on some other measures Twitter is taking to address climate change. By the end of 2022, Twitter aims to only be using carbon-neutral power sourcing at its data centers. It also joined the EU climate pact earlier this year. Among other things, Twitter committed to switch to renewable electricity at its leased operations in the bloc and to increase its investments in carbon-removal tech.